Lately, I’ve been annoyed by some comments I hear when talking about diabetes. I know people mean well, but I wish they would read up on the subject or at least take time to ask me or other type 1′s what
our experiences have been.
1) I didn’t do anything to cause it!!
I was talking to someone recently about this and she was talking about my diet and whether or not what I ate contributed to me getting diabetes. It is NO ONE’s fault a person gets Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 is an auto-immune disease where your body’s own immune system attacks the beta cells in your pancreas that allow you to produce insulin. Environmental factors, such as toxins or bacteria, could also be a factor. Yes, I liked sweets as a child and I still do now, but that’s not why I have diabetes!
2) If you just carb count properly, you can control your bg’s.
Yes what you eat does matter, but even if you carb count, you will still get lows/highs. It really gets on my nerves when people, especially those in the medical field, assume that just by carb counting, you will achieve optimal control. Diabetes doesn’t work this way! At least not for me. I’ve had instances where I’ve carb counted and still ended up with a high. Even if I had the same meal everyday, my numbers still fluctuate. Any number of factors can contribute to how your body reacts to insulin at any given moment, especially if you are particularly stressed that day, if you are sick, or if your hormones are out of whack.
3) Are you in good control?
To me, this is a really personal question. Right up there with people asking you how much your salary is or how much you weigh. I usually just brush this question off, or answer by saying I am managing it. There is an implied judgment in this question, just by use of the word “control”. I don’t go around asking you how your diet is or why you are choosing to have that cookie.
I realize that people just don’t know or understand. But at the same time, it’s frustrating to have to explain this over and over again. Not only do you have to manage this disease everyday, but having to deal with uninformed questions adds an additional burden.
YESS I hear you, Gen! I definitely get all of those comments and they frustrate me. I think the third one in particular is one that is considered far too acceptable (in my opinion), even by people who are educated on diabetes. It is not only personal and judgmental but also implies that all of our diabetes health outcomes are direct results of what we put into our management efforts, not a combination of forces, including genetics ones and social factors and many others outside of our “control.”
HECK yes! I get all the same stuff. And especially since I am not “thin”, people assume I “did this to myself”. PLEASE! Great blog – and know, we all (most) go through this.
Great post, Stacey. The frustrations can be incredible when all we continually do is explain the basics. Even advocates need a break sometimes, especially when you’re up against those like Oprah and “Dr.” Oz who spread the misunderstanding around.
FYI – this post is by Genevieve (Gen)!
I agree with all those, but you missed one of my biggest frustrating questions – “should you be eating that?” I’m not 5!
Becca – totally agree… and what’s even worse than that is “you should NOT be eating that”. I get that a lot from some well-meaning family members. No matter how much I teach them. Oh well.
Great examples Gen! It drives me crazy how people just assume they can say and ask whatever they want. People assume they know too much about the disease and never bother to try to learn the facts. We live in a very ignorant world.